The advent of cloud-based computing architectures has opened new possibilities for the rapid and scalable deployment of virtual Web stores, media outlets, social networking sites, and many other on-line sites or services. In general, a cloud-based architecture deploys a set of hosted resources such as processors, operating systems, software and other components that can be combined together to form virtual machines. A user or customer can request the instantiation of a virtual machine or set of machines from those resources from a central server or cloud management system to perform intended tasks, services, or applications. For example, a user may wish to set up and instantiate a virtual server from the cloud to create a storefront to market products or services on a temporary basis, for instance, to sell tickets to or merchandise for an upcoming sports or musical performance. The user can subscribe to the set of resources needed to build and run the set of instantiated virtual machines on a comparatively short-term basis, such as hours or days, for their intended application.
Typically, when a user utilizes a cloud, the user must track the software applications executed in the cloud and/or processes instantiated in the cloud. For example, the user must track the cloud processes to ensure that the correct cloud processes have been instantiated, that the cloud processes are functioning properly and/or efficiently, that the cloud is providing sufficient resources to the cloud processes, and so forth. Due in part to the user's requirements and overall usage of the cloud, the user may have many applications and/or processes instantiated in a cloud at any given instant, and the user's deployment of virtual machines, software, and other resources can change dynamically over time. In cases, the user may also utilize multiple independent host clouds to support the user's cloud deployment. That user may further instantiate and use multiple applications or other software or services inside or across multiple of those cloud boundaries, and those resources may be used or consumed by multiple or differing end-user groups in those different cloud networks.
In terms of the management of user workloads in a twenty-four hour cloud environment, some cloud providers who operate or have access to cloud-based networks hosted in diverse geographic regions may wish to provide their users with access to processing, memory, application, and/or other resources under advantageous terms during overnight or other off-peak time periods, on a temporary basis. That is, cloud providers who maintain cloud-based networks in a separate geographic areas, such as the East coast of the U.S. and West coast of the U.S., may experience different utilization rates of their hosted resources at different times of day, due to business hours, daylight and evening hours, and/or other patterns or schedules. In periods of reduced cloud utilization, the cloud provider may discover that underutilized resources are available during overnight or other off-peak times, creating an opportunity to offer various temporary migration pathways to their users for their ongoing workloads.
In terms of potential re-hosting or re-seating of those workloads, existing cloud management platforms or other deployment tools do not afford a cloud operator to access and review their off-peak available resources, compare those available resources to the historical usage data of their corporate or other users or customers, and selectively configure subscription terms for possible temporary hosting of those workloads in geographically remote or dispersed clouds. In cases, the cloud provider may wish to place partial or full cloud support for a user's workload at a reduced off-peak or temporary subscription rate. In cases, the cloud provider may in addition or instead wish to offer different combinations of resources and/or service level agreements (SLAs) for various resources or services, such as to upgrade or downgrade processor, bandwidth, and/or other commitments to the user, at times that may be advantageous for the user, the cloud provider, or both.
It may accordingly be desirable to provide systems and methods for generating dynamically configurable subscription parameters for the temporary migration of predictive user workloads in a cloud network, in which a centralized deployment tool is configured to access the usage history for a subscriber or customer of a cloud provider, and assist in generating selective or dynamically generated subscription parameters to create temporary or short-term workload migrations to alternative host clouds based in dispersed or separated geographic areas and/or corresponding time zones.